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Somehow, in the swelter of this entire steroidal episode, I'd love to see Selig have to hand in his resignation...because if he does anything except verbally censure Bonds et al., he'll be in deep doo doo over his own complicity, nay, pimpitude of the PED era. I don't care a wit for Bonds, Giambi, sheffield, McGwire, Sosa, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera (to quote my favorite King of Siam), but if ALL GUILTY PARTIES are not sussed out then we're talking about just an elaborate cover-up, aided and abetted by that "liberal" ex-Senator from Downeast, Mr. George "minority owner of the friggin' Red Sox" Mitchell. If I read the tenor of things in Congress accurately, that ain't gonna cut it. If Selig is really serious, he'll have to kill off his "little darlings" and that means...well, we all know who they are, don't we?

Not to mention, taking down Giambi & Sheff will hurt the Yankees, and help Bud's friends at the Red Sox.
I'm with JohnnyC -- Bud needs to resign if anyone gets punished. Put Frank Robinson in charge, plus he'll tell Bonds to ditch the elbow armor.

This latest "revelation" doesn't hurt Sheff. We know for a fact that Sheff and Bonds were close and that he worked out with him and Anderson. Sheff claims that he thought everything he was taking -- the "beans" and the clear -- were legal. Anderson (who, if you can believe this, had a REALLY big mouth) told the judge he was going to work out with Sheffield and give him nutritional supplements. Even if those supplements were beans and the clear, there's still no way to determine if Sheff knew what he was taking.

So this is really no big deal. While everyone focuses on the Yankees, because of Sheff and Giambi, the team they should really focus on is the Giants. Clearly Anderson (and Bonds) were handing out steroids like candy. Anyone who was on that team with Bonds is a suspect, including Jason Schmidt, whose numbers mysteriously went through the roof during that period (and his velocity climbed right along with them). Now, with a testing policy, Schmidt is back to being mediocre and his velocity is down. If anyone starts picking apart the players around Bonds, I think you'll find a bunch of abusers.

I have to really disagree with you guys here. Whether it hurts the Yankees or not, if the guys cheated, they deserve every bit of scrutiny they're getting. And if you believe that Sheff didn't know what he was taking, there's a bridge in Brooklyn I want to sell you.

There aren't Red Sox involved because there haven't been public allegations involving any Red Sox. It's not a conspiracy; IIRC none of the Red Sox players had to testify in the BALCO hearings either. Is the Justice Department in on the conspiracy too?

Nobody should be punished by Major League Baseball because those weren't the rules in place at the time, and you shouldn't be creating rules retroactively. But they deserve everything they get as far as public scorn goes, no matter whose jersey they wear.

It doesn't matter what we BELIEVE, DFLNJ. It's what they can PROVE about Sheffield. And just because Anderson went to see him and talked about working out with him and giving him supplements does not shed any light on whether or not Sheff knew he was taking steroids.

Also, Jason's brother Jeremy was a Red Sox, so a Red Sox player DID testify. In fact, Jeremy, who is a close friend to David Ortiz, came to the team with Ortiz in 2003, when Papi suddenly became the monster hitter he is today.

That's the first that I've ever heard that.

Baileywalk, I checked on Jeremy Giambi. According to what I found, he testified in 2004, after his tenure with the Red Sox was over and he was out of baseball. The fact that he doesn't play anymore, combined with the fact that when he did play, he sucked, is probably why he hasn't come up.

As for your other point, it matters what they can prove when it comes to a court of law, but outside of that, we're under no obligation to give anyone the benefit of the doubt on anything.

If you want to believe Sheff that he didn't know what he was taking, that's of course your right. I will respectfully have to disagree with you. Keep in mind my screenname here. I'm from Jersey, we're not a trusting sort, you know?

Well, it doesn't matter if he was out of baseball when he testified. The last pro team Jeremy was with was the Red Sox. He was using steroids while playing there.

That doesn't mean he gave steroids to anyone -- I'm just noting a coincidence with Papi -- but the Red Sox aren't totally clean here.

As for Sheff: I don't know if he knew he was taking steroids or not. Maybe he did, maybe he didn't. I don't think this new "evidence" really helps us decide one way or the other.

I have two perspectives on Sheff.

1) He didn't know what he was using. He took whatever Bonds and Anderson gave him, assuming it was legit, because he assumed Bonds was legit. I can believe this because if he was primarily rubbing cream on himself, I don't think your first thought is steroids. I used to be a gym rat, and if some guy gave me a cream and told me it would help with post-workout healing, I wouldn't for a second think it was 'roids. I had never heard of a topical steroid cream (back then, anyway). So there's some plausibility to what Sheff is saying. I practically lived in a gym and I wouldn't have thought anything of it.

2) Even if no one ever mentioned "steroids," Sheffield had to know he was doing something shady. Because of how the pills and cream strengthened his body and because Bonds and Anderson were clearly 'roid-heads.

Anyway, we'll never really know. Maybe I'm being a fool, but something makes me trust Sheffield, and I just can't see him using the way Bonds and Giambi obviously did.

In fact, Jeremy, who is a close friend to David Ortiz, came to the team with Ortiz in 2003, when Papi suddenly became the monster hitter he is today.
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Coincidence. There was no doubt that Ortiz could hit, there was doubt whether he could stay healthy.

Anyway, we'll never really know. Maybe I'm being a fool, but something makes me trust Sheffield, and I just can't see him using the way Bonds and Giambi obviously did.
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While I'm a bit tired of the roids witch hunt, I can see where you're coming from.

Sheffield gets the benefit of the doubt mainly because he's had a high level of production since he was with the Padres back in 1992.

Raf, I can't say Jeremy gave Ortiz 'roids, but you can't (definitively) say it's a coincidence, either. No one knows unless they were there. I hear people accuse Soriano and Clemens of using 'roids. I say it's ridiculous, but since so many people used, I can't say it's not true. The evidence says it's probably not factual, but no one can really say for sure. Do I truly believe Ortiz used 'roids? Yes, I actually do. I have no proof and until there is any I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. But you can't tell me that Papi isn't suspicious. He was steadily progressing, but the Twins, who have a keen eye for talent, cut him, and when he got to the Red Sox his OPS exploded. Those gains are not normal. I don't know if he did it cleanly or not. But I say he's just as suspect as everyone else who's played for the last twenty years. (And this is baseball's fault because they didn't have a testing policy for so long.)

I don't give anyone the benefit of the doubt. I truly believe more than half of ML players (including pitchers) used some regimen of PEDs during the last 15 years, peaking in the late nineties. On average, that means a dozen or more players on each roster were juicing. Every team. As for Ortiz, he was the one who pleaded the case for Latino players last Spring: steroids are perfectly legal in most Latin countries and, anyway, Latino players have difficulty reading the "English" ingredients on the label (like what's the Spanish translation of anabolic steroid anyway?). It wouldn't surprise me if he's a user of HGH, for which there's no current test in MLB. Or that he's, like Bonds, shooting pure testosterone. Also, it wasn't so much his inability to stay healthy that held him back, it was his putrid .660 OPS against lefties. It's called platooning.

Analysis on David Ortiz

http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/the-curse-of-big-papi/

Well, Bill Emslie had it right then, didn't he? And, who among us, has given poor Bill his due? We just pegged him as that irritating know-nothing who was the bane of Brian Cashman's existence. Hey, maybe Bill did some sabermetric analysis on the guy? You think?

Take 'em all down. That's how I feel. And since I was about the only one who seems to have figured this out back in 1997(!) I say, let them fall.

I never wanted Giambi or Sheffield on the Yanks anyway. Or that weak CF either, but that's another issue.

Funny thing, coke-head Gooden seems to have talked GS into having the hots for Sheffield...

Where are all the BB apologists [bootlickers] now?

Where are all the BB apologists [bootlickers] now?
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Probably in the same place with the Matt Lawton & Ryan Franklin apologists...

You'd think Bonds, Sosa & co would've failed a test, or something.

Sheffield's numbers speak for themselves, you figured this out back in '97? Sheffield has been putting up numbers since '92.

Take 'em all down. That's how I feel. And since I was about the only one who seems to have figured this out back in 1997(!) I say, let them fall.
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Also, for the record, this is the way it should be. My issue with the witch hunt has to do more with going after certain people instead of going after everyone.